by Alice Rush
HOW MANY kitchen tools do we really need? A friend of mine recently told me that her minimalist sister doesn’t own a vegetable peeler. She just uses a paring knife. So simple. It’s really all we need, right? I could probably learn to use just a paring knife, but I’ve always used a peeler. I would lose much less of the vegetable or fruit with that tool than I ever would with a little knife.
We use so many different tools in our kitchens now. Is it the same way in the Netherlands? I think that in the U.S. folks have as many kitchen machines as their kitchens will hold! It’s crazy isn’t it? I have a smaller kitchen, and that doesn’t stop me. However, I just gave up my juicer. It’s the one piece of equipment that I haven’t used in quite some time, and I hate to clean it. Out it goes. I also gave away my cookie press. I had not used it in years, and I usually don’t like the taste or texture of pressed cookies, so good riddance.
I prefer a simpler life, or so I like to think. Still, I have a stand mixer, hand mixer, blender, hand chopper, mini electric food chopper (which was a gift from a friend), full size food processor and an air fryer. It’s really too much. I’m not ready to give any of these up though, not yet. I love the air fryer but rarely use it because it is a small one. It doesn’t make nearly enough potato fries (or carrot fries if I’m feeling healthy) in one batch. I have to make 2 batches which just takes too long. There is a case to be made that I would do better to make either of these on a cookie sheet in the oven all at one time.
AS FOR the other redundant food prep items, I use each of them depending on recipe or timing or simply my mood. Most of the time I enjoy simply cutting food by hand on a cutting board. For me there is a pleasure in trying to make uniform cuts and pieces. The hand chopper is great if you’re in a hurry and for burning off some aggression, as long as you don’t care about the shape of what you are dicing. The electric mini chopper is great for really mincing anything that would do better in a bowl than a cutting board. Neither of them are very helpful when I’m making my cranberry salad at the holidays because it is a fairly large recipe. The bowl on the mini is too small. So, I finally broke down and bought a full size food processor. I’m trying to use it more than once a year. (Ooof.)
Most people that I know in Holland have a more economically sized kitchen, and they likely wouldn’t keep a multitude of equipment. During my time in South Carolina I knew folks that had full pantries where they kept all of those items and more, including dish sets for every holiday – including the Fourth of July. So, I don’t feel too badly about my little collection. Down the road, as I attempt to declutter, I may not replace gear as it inevitably wears out.
Am I the only one who goes through these phases of trying to simplify and then failing as the years pass? For instance, when we moved, I was all ready to do more with less. My less has grown to more over just a few years. I’m on a new kick. I’m not sure if we really make adequate use of our microwave, and I could probably just keep the toaster and not also have a toaster oven (that I really thought I needed at one point). Maybe as a test I’ll pack those up and see how long we can go without.
* Alice is a Maine realtor and a licensed helicopter and fixed wing pilot. She first met her Dutch husband in Maryland in 2005, and married him four years later.
